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Queluz e Belas

Lisbon geography stubsParishes of Sintra

Queluz e Belas is a civil parish in the municipality of Sintra, Lisbon District, Portugal. It was formed in 2013 by the merger of the former parishes Queluz and Belas. The population in 2011 was 52,336, in an area of 26.47 km².

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Queluz e Belas (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Queluz e Belas
Rua Conde de Almeida Araújo, Queluz

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Wikipedia: Queluz e BelasContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 38.755 ° E -9.255 °
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Junta de Freguesia da União das Freguesias de Queluz e Belas

Rua Conde de Almeida Araújo
2745 Queluz
Portugal
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Palace of Queluz
Palace of Queluz

The Palace of Queluz (Portuguese: Palácio de Queluz, Portuguese pronunciation: [kɛˈɫuʃ]) is an 18th-century palace located at Queluz, a city of the Sintra Municipality, in the Lisbon District, on the Portuguese Riviera. One of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe, the palace was conceived as a summer retreat for Dom Pedro of Braganza, later to become husband and then king consort to his own niece, Queen Maria I. It served as a discreet place of incarceration for Queen Maria as her descent into madness continued in the years following Dom Pedro's death in 1786. Following the destruction by fire of the Ajuda Palace in 1794, Queluz Palace became the official residence of the Portuguese prince regent John VI, and his family and remained so until the royal family fled to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in 1807 following the French invasion of Portugal.Work on the palace began in 1747 under Portuguese architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. Despite being far smaller, the palace is often referred to as the Portuguese Versailles. From 1826, the palace slowly fell from favour with the Portuguese sovereigns. In 1908, it became the property of the state. Following a serious fire in 1934, which gutted one-third of the interior, the palace was extensively restored, and today is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. One wing of the palace, the Queen Maria I Pavilion, built by Manuel Caetano de Sousa, is currently used as Portugal's official state guest house, allocated to foreign heads of state.

Anta do Monte Abraão
Anta do Monte Abraão

The Anta do Monte Abraão was a megalithic dolmen located in the parish of Monte Abraão, in Queluz, Sintra Municipality, Lisbon District, Portugal. The dolmen was first identified in 1876, by Carlos Ribeiro, who carried out excavations until 1878 and published his results in 1880. Excavations suggest that it served as a tomb for about 80 individuals and that it dates back to the middle to end of the Neolithic period (4000-2500 BC). The Anta do Monte Abraão and the nearby Anta da Pedra dos Mouros (also known as the Anta do Senhor da Serra) and Anta da Estria are collectively known as the Antas de Belas.The burial chamber of the Anta do Monte Abraão had an east-west orientation. It had at least six upright limestone supporting stones or orthostats and three of these were found in situ by Ribeiro. The polygonal chamber had a diameter of 3.6 metres, approached by an 8 metre corridor that was 2 metres wide. Subsequent work by Vergílio Correia Pinto da Fonseca identified limited drawings on some stones. Despite the destruction of the tomb, excavations have yielded numerous finds, including stone axes, flint tools and blades, flint arrowheads, club heads, pottery ceramics, clay vessels and objects of adornment. These are exhibited at the Portuguese Geological Museum in Lisbon. Apart from the visit by Da Fonseca, Ribeiro’s findings attracted little interest in the dolmen until the 1960s, when archaeologists became concerned about the possible destruction of the Antas de Belas as a result of urban expansion and highway construction. In addition, the Anta do Monte Abrãao was threatened by the activity of a quarry located in its vicinity. The present condition of the stones is poor and extensive graffiti is visible.

Anta da Estria
Anta da Estria

The Anta da Estria is a megalithic dolmen situated between Belas and Queluz in the Lisbon District of Portugal. Based on datings of human remains, it is believed to date back to the late-Neolithic and early-Chalcolithic eras (4000-2500 BC). The Anta da Estria, the Anta do Monte Abraão and the Anta da Pedra dos Mouros (also known as the Anta do Senhor da Serra) are collectively known as the Antas de Belas, and were first identified in the 1870s by Carlos Ribeiro (1813-1882), who is regarded as the "father" of Portuguese prehistoric archaeology.The dolmen is presently in a much-degraded condition and difficult to access. It was almost destroyed by construction in the 1990s of Portugal’s A9 motorway but was eventually incorporated into the landscaped area of a service station for that highway, facilitating easy access. However, the service area has since been closed and access by cars has been blocked. Pedestrian access remains possible, using a footbridge over a motorway slip road. Carlos Ribeiro, who carried out research in early 1875 and published his results in 1880, described the tomb as having a polygonal chamber, 2-5 metres wide and 2.75 metres high, approached by a corridor bordered by small slabs of limestone. Later excavations carried out by what is now the Portuguese Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IPPAR), of the Direção-Geral do Património Cultural (Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage), under the direction of Ana Carvalho Dias have shown the corridor to make use of a pre-existing inclined depression in the rock. This dictated the orientation of the tomb, which points to 212-13 degrees west. Ribeiro identified nine raised slabs but did not identify any stones that could have formed a roof. He considered all of the slabs to have been locally sourced, and this has been confirmed by subsequent research. The hard limestone is similar to that used for the other Antas de Belas. Limited artifacts have been discovered at the site but many are thought to have been removed prior to the discovery by Ribeiro. Twelve arrowheads were identified, together with two bone artifacts and three small, almost-complete pots. While human remains were found, Ribeiro did not feel confident to identify the number of burials that had taken place at the tomb, which he had done for the Anta do Monte Abraão.